Individual Tax Statistics by Area (ITSA) - 2024 Edition (2022 tax year)

The 2024 edition of the ITSA tables summarizes the most recent 2022 tax year assessment or reassessment information for returns assessed up to June 30, 2024.

Individual Tax Statistics by Area data

Geographic areas

The tabulations divide the country into Census Metropolitan Areas (large cities), Census Agglomerations (smaller cities) and rural census divisions, as defined by the 2021 census (https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm). In the tabulations, rural census divisions are further divided into census subdivisions. Census Metropolitan Areas, Census Agglomerations, and rural census subdivisions are referred to collectively as “census areas”. Each of these census areas is further divided into Canada Post Forward Sortation Areas (https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/articles/addressing-guidelines/postal-codes.page ).

A Forward Sortation Area (FSA) may straddle the boundary of a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), the boundary of a Census Agglomeration (CA), or the boundary of a rural census subdivision. Hence, in the tabulations, the same FSA can appear within more than one census area.

The tables contain one row for each FSA within a census area, one row for each census area total across FSA, and one row for each total at the higher levels of aggregation. These higher levels are the census division totals across subdivisions, the province-level total across CMA, the province-level total across CA, and the grand total for the province. CMA rows are presented first, followed by CA rows, and finally rural census subdivision rows.

Each tax filer in the data is assigned to exactly one FSA within one census area.

The “census metropolitan influenced zone”, or MIZ, is an attribute of a rural census subdivision.  It measures how rural the subdivision is, on a scale from 996 to 999, where 996 is least rural and 999 is most rural, based on commuting patterns. The MIZ appears under the heading “CMA-CA” in the second column of the table rows for rural sub-divisions.

Further details about the geographic areas are given below.

Forward Sortation Area (FSA)

The CRA uses the tax filer's postal code as it appears in the mailing address from the T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return to determine the FSA, which is the first 3 characters of the postal code.

Census division and census subdivision

Census division is the general term for provincially legislated areas (such as county, municipalité régionale de comté and regional district) or their equivalents. Census divisions are intermediate geographical areas between the province/territory level and the municipality (census subdivision).

Census subdivision is the general term for municipalities (as determined by provincial/territorial legislation) or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes (such as Indian reserves, Indian settlements and unorganized territories).

Census metropolitan area and census agglomeration

Census metropolitan areas (CMA) and census agglomerations (CA) are the large cities. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the urban core. A CA must have an urban core population of at least 10,000. To be included in the CMA or CA, adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central urban area, as measured by commuting flows derived from census place of work data. CMAs and CAs are assigned unique identifier from 001 to 995.

Census metropolitan influenced zone

The census metropolitan influenced zone (MIZ) describes the area of Canada outside census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs). Census subdivisions (CSDs)  that are outside CMAs and CAs are assigned to one of four MIZ categories according to the degree of influence (strong, moderate, weak or no influence) that the CMAs or CAs have on them. CSDs within the territories that are outside CAs are assigned to a separate category.

Strong MIZ (code 996): This category includes CSDs in provinces where at least 30% of the CSD's resident employed labour force (excluding the category of no fixed workplace address) commutes to work in any delineation core of a CMA or CA. It excludes CSDs with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force from the previous census.

Moderate MIZ (code 997): This category includes CSDs in provinces where at least 5% but less than 30% of the CSD's resident employed labour force (excluding the category of no fixed workplace address) commute to work in any delineation core of a CMA or CA. It excludes CSDs with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force from the previous census.

Weak MIZ (code 998): This category includes CSDs in provinces where more than 0% but less than 5% of the CSD's resident employed labour force (excluding the category of no fixed workplace address) commute to work in any delineation core of a CMA or CA. It excludes CSDs with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force from the previous census.

No MIZ (code 999): This category includes CSDs in provinces where none of the CSD's resident employed labour force (excluding the category of no fixed workplace address) commute to work in any delineation core of a CMA or CA. It also includes CSDs in provinces with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force from the previous census.

Territories (outside CAs, code 000): This category includes CSDs in the territories outside CAs.

Province / territory codes

Data source

Data were taken from income tax returns and related schedules filed by individuals for the 2022 tax year, for the following types of returns:

• T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return
• T1S-D, Credit and Benefit Return (for Indians registered, or eligible to be registered, under the Indian Act).

Confidentiality procedures

To ensure the protection of taxpayer information, data have been suppressed where warranted. As well, counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of 10. For example, 104 would be rounded to 100 and 105 would be rounded to 110. Dollar amounts have been rounded to the nearest thousand in all tables. Totals may not add up due to rounding or suppression.

Classification variables

The following variables are used in one or more of the tables in this publication:

• income classification
• gender classification
• provincial or territorial classification

Income classification

The income classes presented in the tables are based on the total income assessed. This corresponds to line 15000 of the return and includes:

• employment income
• pension income
• investment income
• self-employment income
• social benefit payments
• other income

It does not include non-taxable income from the following sources:

• any GST/HST credit or Canada child tax benefit payments, as well as those from related provincial or territorial programs
• child assistance payments and the supplement for children with disabilities paid by the province of Quebec
• compensation received from a province or territory for a victim of a criminal act or a motor vehicle accident
• lottery winnings
• most gifts and inheritances
• amounts paid by Canada or an ally (if the amount is not taxable in that country) for disability or death due to war service
• most amounts received from a life insurance policy following someone's death
• most payments of the type commonly referred to as strike pay received from a union
• most amounts received from a tax-free savings account

The income earned on any of these amounts is taxable.

Total income assessed

Total income assessed may differ from the true economic income presented in other publications because it does not include certain non-taxable income and it may include grossed-up income such as income from eligible dividends (which is the value plus 38%). Interest and investment income are also gross figures since carrying charges are not deducted. On the other hand, taxable capital gains are net amounts because only 50% of the realized gains are reported.

Employment income

• Employment income (box 14 on all T4 slips) ─ line 10100 of the return
  This is the amount, including commission income from line 10120 of the return, from T4 slips and is reported on line 10100 of the T1 general income tax and benefit return.
• Other employment income reported on line 10400 of the return

Pension income

• Old Age Security pension ─ line 11300 of the return
  This amount is a monthly benefit paid to people 65 years of age or over (box 18 of the T4A(OAS) slip).
• Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan benefits ─ line 11400 of the return
  This includes death and disability benefits, survivor benefits, and children’s benefits received by a child of a deceased or disabled contributor (box 20 on the T4A(P) slip).
• Other pensions and superannuation ─ line 11500 of the return
  This includes income from registered pension plans, registered retirement income funds, deferred profit-sharing plans, foreign pensions, etc.
• Elected split-pension amount ─ line 11600 of the return
  This is the amount of pension income received from the spouse.  It comes from line 22 of the Form T1032 (Joint Election to Split Pension Income).  Due to a change in the methodology used to calculate pension income amounts, this edition of the publication should not be used in conjunction with editions prior to 2021 for the purposes of conducting time-series comparisons. The pension income in this edition was calculated by reducing amounts by the deduction for elected split-income amount (line 21000) that is already included in elected split-pension amount (line 11600).

Investment income

• Taxable amount of dividends (eligible and other than eligible) from taxable Canadian corporations ─ line 12000 of the return
  This is the total dividend value, plus a 38% gross-up for the eligible dividends and a 18% gross-up for other than eligible dividends.
• Interest and other investment income ─ line 12100 of the return
  This includes interest, foreign interest, dividend income, etc.
• Net partnership income: limited or non-active partners only ─ line 12200 of the return
  This is the share of the net business income or loss from limited partnerships.
• Net rental income ─ line 12600 of the return
  This is rental income after expenses.
• Taxable capital gains ─ line 12700 of the return
  This amount represents 50% of the capital gains realized in 2022.  It is possible to claim capital losses for deceased tax filers at line 12700. However, these amounts are not included in the total income calculation at line 15000. They are deducted from the net income when calculating their taxable income at line 26000. Therefore, this item only represents positive values found at line 12700.

Self-employment income

Self-employment income corresponds to net income. In other words, it is the gross income, less any adjustments and expenses incurred. It includes the following:

• Net business income ─ line 13500 of the return
  This is the income from businesses and partnerships. A business is an activity carried on with the intention to make a profit.
• Net professional income ─ line 13700 of the return
  This is income only from independent practice, such as earnings by self-employed accountants, doctors, dentists and lawyers. However, when a professionally qualified person is employed by a company, government or institution, the individual’s income is included in employment income.
• Net commission income ─ line 13900 of the return
  This is net commission income for self-employed people, such as real estate agents, who are working in sales and earning commissions.
• Net farming income ─ line 14100 of the return
  Self-employed farmers, including beekeepers and tree farmers, report their income on this line.
• Net fishing income ─ line 14300 of the return
  This is net income from self-employed people fishing as boat owners or crew members, or fishing from shore.

Social benefit payments

• Employment insurance and other benefits ─ line 11900 of the return
  These are benefits from the employment insurance plan (box 14 on the T4E slip).
• Workers’ compensation benefits ─ line 14400 of the return
  This is the amount of compensation paid to an employee or surviving spouse or common-law partner in the event of the employee’s injury, disability or death, under the law of Canada or a province or territory. These amounts are shown on a T5007, Statement of Benefits slip.
• Social assistance payments ─ line 14500 of the return
  These are payments to beneficiaries or third parties based on a means, needs, or income test. They include payments for food, clothing and shelter. These payments are shown on a T5007, Statement of Benefits slip.
• Net federal supplement ─ line 14600 of the return
  This is the net amount of any allowance, allowance for the survivor, or Guaranteed Income Supplement received in the tax year (box 21 of the T4A(OAS) slip).

Other income

• Registered disability savings plan income ─ line 12500 of the return
  This is income from a registered disability savings plan and is shown in box 28 of the T4A slip.
• Support payments received ─ line 12800 of the return
  This is the taxable part of support payments received.
• RRSP income ─ line 12900 of the return
  This is income from a registered retirement savings plan. 
• Other income ─ line 13000 of the return
  This includes the income reported on line 13000 of the return:
  • apprenticeship incentive grant
  • apprenticeship completion grant
  • lump-sum payments from pensions and deferred profit-sharing plans when leaving a plan
  • retiring allowances (severance pay)
  • death benefits (other than Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan death benefits)
  • other kinds of income (see the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide – 2022 for more details)
• Taxable scholarships, fellowships, bursaries and artists' project grants ─ line 13010 of the return
  This is the taxable amount for scholarships, fellowships and artists' project grants.

Gender classification

The gender of the tax filer is gathered from information on file with the CRA. Gender is defined to be female, male, gender diverse, or unknown. Individuals whose gender is non-binary are represented in the gender diverse category. Tax filers for whom no gender code is available, for example, non-residents who applied for an Individual Tax Number, are counted in the “unknown” category. In this publication in order to maintain confidentiality, information is presented for female and male category only. 

Description of ITSA tables

Each table presents both the number of tax filers and the respective dollar amounts. All tables include statistics for all returns.

The Individual Tax Statistics by Area tables are available for all Canada and also by province and territory. These tables are available in two formats: portable document format (PDF) and comma-separated values (CSV).

All Canada tables

In some cases, the totals of the figures in the tables may not match the total shown due either to rounding or to editing for confidentiality purposes.

PDF format (with headings)

• Table 1 - ITSA for All Returns Filed – 2022 tax year (PDF, 3,098 KB) (PDF)
• Table 2 - ITSA for All Returns, Males – 2022 tax year (PDF, 3,047 KB) (PDF)
• Table 3 - ITSA for All Returns, Females – 2022 tax year (PDF, 3,044 KB) (PDF)
• Table 4 - ITSA for All Returns, by Source of Income - 2022 tax year (PDF, 2,572 KB) (PDF)

CSV format (raw data, with single row header)

• Table 1 - ITSA for All Returns Filed – 2022 tax year (CSV, 757KB) (CSV)
• Table 2 - ITSA for All Returns, Males – 2022 tax year (CSV, 720 KB) (CSV)
• Table 3 - ITSA for All Returns, Females – 2022 tax year (CSV, 716 KB) (CSV)
• Table 4 - ITSA for All Returns, by Source of Income - 2022 tax year (CSV, 803 KB) (CSV)

By province or territory tables

In some cases, the totals of the figures in the tables may not match the total shown due either to rounding or to editing for confidentiality purposes.